Amelia Sides's Blog, page 4
January 12, 2014
Redo
So sometimes you have to redo things.
I self published my first novel, The Mage’s Daughter, a few months ago. It did okay but I could not shake the feeling that it could do better. So I have steeled my nerves and done my best to ignore the looming Red Wall of Death and sent my book off to a developmental editor.
Yeah, so I published my book without an outside editor. Opps. Live and learn and all that. Fingers crossed working with my new editor will help tweak the first book into a true gem and make working on the sequel that much easier.
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January 10, 2014
Writing updates
On a roll with my Harry Potter Fanfiction that has been clogging my brain while I wait for the edits on my book. 8000 words and counting.
The Werewolf story is on hold until I figure out a few major plot kinks that are making me insane.
Seriously debating starting a fictional radio show for a shared story world I have been tinkering with. Would anyone listen if I started posting to the blog?
Thoughts?
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January 8, 2014
Care and Feeding of Your Local Writer
I keep seeing these posts and lists pop up that spell out jokingly how you should take care of your "Writer". I have all kinds of issues with these things, most of them are tongue in cheek but they make it seem like every writer is an introvert, closeted away somewhere with no social skills.
So, I decided to start my own list.
1. Talk to you writer.
Share funny stories and sit down together over dinner or coffee and hash out crazy characters and plot lines. Make it a game. It’s fun for everyone and will get your writer participating in the conversation and not mentally agonizing over their latest plotting issues.
2. Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate is always appreciated.
I have a love/hate relationship with caffeine but hot beverages are always a must when you are spending hours working on scenes and the ten minutes breaks to make a new cup are great when your eye sight starts to futz from staring at a page for too long.
3. Gifts of writing supplies are always welcome. Journals, pens, notebooks, office products. (beware the picky lefty writer however, they tend to have very specific needs when it comes to pens and notebooks due to ink smearing issues and a hatred of spiral bound notebooks.)
4. Be careful what you tell a write since everything is fare game for story inspiration.
This is both true and not. I know that bits and pieces of myself and everyone I know very well tend to go into my novels but unless you are really looking for it, it’s hard to pin point exact people and scenarios since they get mixed and matched with fiction, TV, music and all the other media and visual inspiration that the writer is exposed to.
I have had several people point out characters that they think are named for them or based on them. 99% of the time they are not.
5. Never ask when the book is going to be published or press that the next book MUST come out this year (before you die)… (Yeah, I have relatives saying they will die before they see me at the next holiday or get to read the next book.)
Honestly, this stresses me out. Yeah, let me remind YOU of the massive project you have been working on for months that is STILL NOT COMPLETE every single time I see you.
6. Rejection letters can suck, resulting in night spent with alcohol and moody time spent on the couch tucked into the smallest ball possible. Commiserate with your writer. Cuddles are always appreciated and spending time mocking really bad movies can help boost the writers spirits.
7. Dialog sometimes needs to be said out loud. You writer has not lost it or cracked if they start wandering around the house talking to themselves. They are just working through a sticky patch of dialog. It will pass.
8. A writer suddenly having to pull out paper and jot down ideas or bits of dialog from a conversation you are having with them is normal. When inspiration strikes, the writer must write.
9. Sudden changes in conversation are common. A writer’s mind jumps from topic to topic, pursuing the most interesting thought at the time whether it is what the actual conversation was about or not.
10. Writers are human, just like everyone else. When a character dies in a novel they are reading or writing they can be overwhelmed with sadness and grieve the loss of their mental companion. Give them time to recover from the shock.
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December 31, 2013
I write like…
Here is the website for "I Write Like": http://iwl.me
I analysed my current work in progress, Lost, and got this 
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December 29, 2013
Beautiful Creatures – Kami Garcia
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A month or two ago I watched the movie, Beautiful Creatures, and spent most of the two hours mocking the horrible fake Southern accents. We argued over where exactly in South Carolina this town of Gatlin was supposed to be and if it was a real place for long enough for someone to pull out an iPad and find out. No, it’s not a real place but the author meant for the town to be somewhere near Myrtle Beach, SC. While overall the movie was rather bad I decided to read the book to see if it could be better since the premise for the book was intriguing.
“Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.“
My first instinct on reading this book was to be angry. The entire book was from the point of view of the human boy, not the book loving, poetry writing, powerful young woman/witch, Lena. Yes, it forced you to read the book like a mystery novel since everything was seen from the outside of the conflict looking in but I wanted to hear the story from Lena, not her maybe he is maybe he isn’t, boyfriend.
Quite a few scenes and details that I enjoyed in the book were left out of the movie. Much of the mystery of the book cycles around Ethan’s deceased mother and his barely coping father. This was entirely removed from the movie and instead hints of adultery between Lena’s Uncle and Ethan’s father are used which takes out the strength that Ethan shows in overcoming his grief as he works to help Lena.
I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.
While it is not a bad read and I might even take a spin with the next book in the series, it is still predictable and follows the standard High School Experience template including a rather Carrie like moment at the High School dance. If you are looking for a quick read that is young adult this one might be for you.
Filed under: Book, Reviews Tagged: Beautiful Creatures, book review, Gatlin, South Carolina
The Gas Light Dogs – Karin Lowachee
The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really had issues with this book. I fought to even like the characters presented and even now that I have finished it I cannot even really say that I enjoyed the book. There was so much back story that was hinted at but never explained that I finished the book more frustrated than satisfied. Every character in the book seems to be abused and used by everyone around them with little to no support. It makes for a depressing read.
Filed under: Book, Reviews Tagged: book review, Karin Lowachee, Literature
December 18, 2013
Prompts
All the ideas in the world to work on and not enough brain cells to do so.
I have been tossing more and more ideas into my Ideas to Work On folder the last week. My writing progress has slowed to a crawl but I have managed to read several rather good books and comics in the lull.
I am barely writing a hundred words a day right now and it is driving me nuts. Instead blog posts and ranty google plus shares are going out. Maybe my brain decided to take my Birthday and Christmas off?
If you want to see where my brain has been lately take a peek at my google stream. Feel free to join and post comments. I love chatting with new people online.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AmeliaSides/posts
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December 16, 2013
Beautiful Creatures (Book Review)
A month or two ago I watched the movie, Beautiful Creatures, and spent most of the two hours mocking the horrible fake Southern accents. We argued over where exactly in South Carolina this town of Gatlin was supposed to be and if it was a real place for long enough for someone to pull out an iPad and find out. No, it’s not a real place but the author meant for the town to be somewhere near Myrtle Beach, SC. While over all the movie was rather bad I decided to read the book to see if it could be better since the premise for the book was intriguing.
“Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she’s struggling to conceal her power, and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When
Lena moves into the town’s oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.
In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything. “
My first instinct on reading this book was to be angry. The entire book was from the point of view of the human boy, not the book loving, poetry writing, powerful young woman/witch, Lena. Yes, it forced you to read the book like a mystery novel since everything was seen from the outside of the conflict looking in but I wanted to hear the story from Lena, not her maybe he is maybe he isn’t, boyfriend.
Quite a few scenes and details that I enjoyed in the book were left out of the movie. Much of the mystery of the book cycles around Ethan’s deceased mother and his barely coping father. This was entirely removed from the movie and instead hints of adultery between Lena’s Uncle and Ethan’s father are used which takes out the strength that Ethan shows in overcoming his grief as he works to help Lena.
I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.
While it is not a bad read and I might even take a spin with the next book in the series, it is still predictable and follows the standard High School Experience template including a rather Carrie like moment at the High School dance. If you are looking for a quick read that is young adult this one might be for you.
Filed under: Book, Reviews Tagged: book review, young adult
December 13, 2013
Counting Words
I may have gotten a little OCD in my word count tracking. I was playing with my spreadsheets and I realized that I am writing an average of 2200 words a day. Some days it even goes as high as 6000 words a day but those days are rare.
It started as a way to track that I was writing. I wanted to track all my writing for Nano and it just kind of exploded from there. Honestly, it is just nice to add the progress and see the chart bars creep closer to the next marker.
Does any one else out there who reads this count their output?
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